This past Monday, May 21, we celebrated World Day for Cultural Diversity, a UN declared holiday recognizing the value in diversity. Never heard of it? Perhaps you know it better by its more formal name: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development. Still doesn’t ring a bell? Yes. Folks do not typically clamor… more »

Here I am two weeks out from my next blog post and I can’t decide what it’ll be on. I feel like I’m staring at a restaurant menu. Whether everything looks great or nothing looks good, I’m having a hard time choosing. So, let’s get into it and see what happens. So often things become… more »

I’m rerunning a post from 2016 on the tragedy at Kent State. I look forward to your comments. On Monday, May 4, 1970, at twenty minutes past noon, 28 National Guardsmen fired 61 shots into a crowd of college students on the hill above, leaving four dead and nine wounded. It lasted just 13 seconds. This… more »

Earth Day began in 1970, officially. And I have no memory of it at all. My first one was the following year while I was a student at NYU. My memory of it is fleeing: I’m walking along 14th Street in Manhattan, aware of other people actively engaged in celebrating and protecting the… more »

What do you remember from April, 1968? Do your memories revolve around sports? Fashion? Popular culture? The news? Politics? Who were you dating back then? Where were you in school? What do you remember from fifty years ago? Here’s what I recall . . . 1968 They were lighthearted, talented, irreverent and oh so very… more »

It’s officially spring here in the northern hemisphere where I sit. In fact, according to my calendar, the spring or vernal equinox arrived yesterday, March 20, just a bit after noon, here in northeastern Vermont, USA. First, a quick primer on what an equinox is. Ready? Theoretically, it is the day in which… more »

While wandering around the Internet looking for that pleasant little visual, I stumbled across this fun, headline: . . . the best way to prevent death by Daylight Saving Time may be to make it permanent, according to Standard Time abolitionists. Death by Daylight Saving Time? You heard (read?) right. Yes. Portlanders are on a roll. This… more »

Happy Valentine’s Day, Lovers and Friends and grandmothers … Or, as they say in France, Joyeuse Saint Valentin! We in the US know how we celebrate Valentine’s Day: sentimental card first, always with a picture of a heart; styrofoam-tasting candy hearts with the little words on them, maybe; flowers; an elegant (though generally overpriced) dinner out;… more »

For those of you fairly new to And So It Goes, I first discovered John McCutcheon’s song, Christmas in the Trenches, in 2013. It tells an amazing and long forgotten true story, one that I’m committed to sharing. I’ve been posting it every Christmas Eve since. I hope you’ll take the time to listen to the song and peruse… more »